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Should You Invest in the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY)?

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Launched on 12/16/1998, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Consumer Discretionary - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $16.84 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market. XLY seeks to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index seeks to provide an effective representation of the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.10%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.86%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 23.02% of total assets, followed by Tesla Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) and Home Depot Inc. (HD - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 72.66% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has gained about 32.13% so far, and is up about 17.07% over the last 12 months (as of 07/11/2023). XLY has traded between $126.26 and $172.97 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.19 and standard deviation of 25.01% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 55 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLY is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD - Free Report) tracks StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index and the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index. First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF has $1.43 billion in assets, Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has $4.79 billion. FXD has an expense ratio of 0.61% and VCR charges 0.10%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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